Paul Gauguin
Paul Gauguin, born Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin, was a French Post-Impressionist artist who lived from 1848 to 1903. His work is known for its bold colors and flattened perspective, and was instrumental in paving the way for modern art.
Gauguin had a more tragic youth. When he was a year and a half old, his family was forced to flee France during a time of political upheaval, and they set off for South America. His father died from a heart attack on his family’s journey from France to Peru. Gauguin lived with his mother in Peru for about four years in relative comfort. Another period of political upheaval, this time in Peru, made his mother move her family back to France. After school Gauguin spent several years serving in the French navy.
After the navy, Gauguin moved back to Paris at 23 and began his career as a stockbroker. He was actually quite successfully and did this for 11 years. During this time, he got married to a Danish woman and had five children, but the marriage unfortunately fell apart. Gauguin dealt with art in his work and started painting in his spare time. In 1873, he became friends with Camille Pissarro who taught Gauguin and introduced him to other artists. After the stock market crashed in 1882, he lost his job and decided to pursue art full time. Though Gauguin started as an impressionist painter, he soon became disenchanted with that school, seeing it as imitative and lacking depth.
Gauguin was a huge admirer of the art from Africa and Asia, which is heavily reflected in his later works. He is often credited with paving the way to Primitivism through his pieces depicting French Polynesia and Tahitian culture. He is also regarded as a symbolist artist, and he used bold colors to try and imbibe his art with meaning. In 1884, he befriended the Symbolist artist, Odilon Redon. Gauguin inspired future artists in the Fauvist and Expressionist schools.
Gauguin famously spent time with Vincent Van Gogh and is often cited as the reason that Van Gogh cut off his ear. Like Van Gogh, Gauguin was not largely appreciated until after his death. Gauguin was often depressed and even once attempted to commit suicide but was unsuccessful.
In 1891, Paul Gauguin essentially exiled himself from his world and everything he knew. He was poor and disenchanted with the art scene in Paris. Except for one trip back to France, Gauguin spend the rest of his life in Tahiti and Martinique. He died at only 54 from an overdose of morphine that he was using to treat his syphilis. Syphilis unfortunately killed many artists at this time in history.
Back to the Artists page.
You can learn about different art movements here.
